This Weekend

This weekend was a lot of fun except for the way Notre Dame played.  On Friday, I explored a really nice bike route.  It was about 18 miles and I was lost half of the time but I found my way back to my house in one piece.

Saturday was fun.  I went to this Irish Pub on Main Street and wanted to watch the Irish play.  I watched the whole game.  I guess its ground into me that I can't leave early and I had to suffer through the entire game.  It was a cool atmosphere and good food.  Believe it or not I was not the only fan interested in the Irish.  I met a few people from Indiana and we shared some good stories about Notre Dame and how we hope that someday they might be good again.

On Sunday my room mate invited me to come check out the place where she works.  She works at a school where kids come from troubled back grounds like substance abuse or behavior issues and the school really works beyond just curriculum to turn their lives around.  It was a cool place to see.  She works in an art studio and teaches the students pottery making, painting and lots of different things.  It was like camp crafts on steroids.  She invited me to learn how to throw pottery on the wheel.  I gave it a shot.  It was an experience.  She showed me how to make a cup and she threw it out in three minutes while she showed me some of the technique.  I thought I could do it in like thirty minutes or so but I would say an hour later I had my attempt at a mug.  Here I am throwing on the wheel and then my mug is drying on the left.

It was a lot of fun.  When it was close to done drying she helped me put the handle on.  She had two students working on different things as well.  It was cool hearing their stories of how they found themselves at this school.  They were pretty open about their experiences.  She is going to fire my mug and then hopefully I will have it in a week or so depending on her schedule for putting stuff in the kiln.

Sunday evening I went back up to Main Street.  There is always something going on up there.  It is only a short way from my house so I go up there a lot just to check stuff out.  Last night there were these fire performers.  It was crazy.  I was on a ledge above them but the crowd was so close to this fire twirling.  Check out some of these pictures.  Well that is it from me.  Only a couple more days and I will be gainfully employed again and halfway busy hopefully.

 I have also created a Flickr account.  If you go there and type in my name you can see more of the pictures that I have taken.  Some of them are the same but I can't post all the pictures on the blog.  Give it a look if you want.

First Week in Utah

It has been an adjustment time in Utah.  I am looking forward to starting work and staying way more busy.  I have been out a few times on the bike and the racing chair to get my training in but have not found good non busy ways to get to the trails without driving.  That has thrown a little hitch in my training schedule so we will see how the Twin Cities Marathon goes next weekend.  I did a few cool things this week.  On Sunday I went and checked out a small church in Park City.  I think I was one of seven people in attendance.  It was cool to meet people and be a part of a Sunday church here in Utah.  After church I went and checked out the Park City museum.  It was really cool and it showed the history of the mining town and how recreation and different things have turned it into a resort town.  Here I am getting ready to blow something up.

 Yesterday I decided I wanted to head to Salt Lake City to see what that was all about.  I drove downtown and checked out the Temple Square where the Church of Latter Day Saints is located.  It was interesting to see all the buildings and different beliefs they hold too.  I was able to meet a couple from Indiana near Lafayette.  It was funny that we were so far from home but had that in common.  Here is the temple that they worship in.  You have to be a member in good standing to go into the building so I just got some shots of the outside.  It is huge and was built in the late 1800's.  It was an interesting experience to see and talk to some people.

So it has been a good week for sure.  I am looking forward to the work starting one week from tomorrow.  I am putting together an account to put together all my pictures so I will put that link on here next time so you can browse some more of the pictures I have been able to take in my time out here.

Here I am Utah!

I arrived in Park City on Tuesday!  It was two back to back eleven hour days on the road.  I spent the night in Nebraska and then the next day took on the state of Wyoming.  There is nothing cool in Wyoming.

I got settled in during the week.  The only real obstacle at the house is there is no ramp on the front door yet and Toby does not really love the cat but both of those will have to be works in progress.  Here is the house.  The picture is taken from the living room and my room is in the back.  The kitchen is off to the right and the storage unit of all our bikes and different things is right there on the left.  It is a really cool place and the room mates are pretty cool as well.

On Friday, I toured the Olympic Park area.  They have the bobsled run and ski jumps when the 2002 winter Olympics were here.  It was pretty cool to see.  Here I am holding the torch.

I live right by a park and about a five minute walk from downtown Park City.  The views are pretty amazing and the first stop on the free bus system is Park City Mountain Resort.  Here is the view from Main Street looking up the Town Lift.  You can ride the mountain down in the winter to town and grab something to eat or just hang out.

The room mates are pretty chill and everything at the house is very laid back.  It has really worked out well so far.

Well here is the fun fact for the week.  I went down town today just to see some sites and was going to check out a historic part of Park City.  I was on my way back to the house and I pass a pretty cool skate park on the way back.  It is always busy with high school kids and stuff but as I looked I saw some long red hair and then put it together.  It was Shaun White the Olympic snowboarder and X-games skateboarder.  I figured I would take the chance when he was near to talk to him.  He got done with a run and I said Hey Shaun,  Have you ever tried the mono-ski?  He said no.  I said you should give it a shot and told him I would hook him up with a ski and some ski time on the mountain. Who knows.  It would be cool to get someone with that much of a public eye out on an adaptive piece of equipment.

I sent a text to Tanner and he was pretty jealous to say the least.  I just laughed.

New House

I am going to start the drive to Utah a week from today.  I found a place on Craiglist.  I will be staying with two room mates on Park Avenue in Park City, Utah.  The first bus stop on the free bus service is Park City Mountain Resort.  Bring on the snow.  I am pretty excited.  I will post some pictures of the place once I get out there.  Here comes the last week in South Bend, IN for a while.